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Topic: Whirlpool gas dryer runs, no heat (Read 4843 times)

Working on a Whirlpool gas dryer model LG5551XTW0. Customer complaint was runs but no heat. Pulled front to access burner & observe ignitor. Ran unit found no ignitor glow. Checked & found the following:

So it seems as if the circuit is good and should provide power to the ignitor. Though this would not prevent the ignitor from operating, I also checked the coils on the valve and all show continuity. I then unplugged the wire to the burner assy and checked voltage with the unit running and found that (wires 1V to 3V) to be at 40VAC. That didn't seem right to me, so I manually bypassed each t-stat, the thermal fuse, the timer contacts and the motor switch one at a time and came up with the same results.

I had wondered if the contacts could be breaking down under load. Everything else sure looks good. Thinking also that I may try following the circuit through and seeing if I could determine where it drops from 110VAC to 40VAC. I just rarely have trouble with dryers, so this one threw me a curve!

Since I am primarily familiar with Frigidaire/Electrolux products and not quite so familiar with other brands, I wanted to run this past the rest of the folks here to see if someone else has come across this in Whirlpool dryers in particular. Every brand seems to have their own quirks.

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I didn't look for build date on unit while there. The parts manual is dated 1992. Serial number is MB5108799. I don't know date codes on Whirlpool products, but my guess is 15 - 20 years old. That would explain why the timer is NLA.

Yes, it looks like a low end timer. I probably couldn't even disassemble and burnish contacts for a temp fix.

I will run through the voltage checks though to be sure, but I think everyone is looking in the right direction and it is the timer.